


brains, brawn, basketball

by jaemarked



Category: NCT (Band), WayV (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Athlete!Yangyang, M/M, WayV Ensemble - Freeform, athlete!kunhang, just cute boys being cute
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 03:56:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,898
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22010674
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jaemarked/pseuds/jaemarked
Summary: Yangyang tightens his shoelaces, but somehow he's still falling fast for Kunhang
Relationships: Liu Yang Yang/Wong Kun Hang | Hendery
Comments: 15
Kudos: 184





	brains, brawn, basketball

**Author's Note:**

> this is a sequel to 'in kunhang we trust' but i believe it can be read without reading the first part!

**yangyang** @yangyang_04

**_no thoughts head empty just basketball_ **

  
  


**hendery! liked your tweet**

The icon is Kunhang’s selfie. Yangyang instantly hits follow, even though Kunhang’s layout is clapped.

**hendery! retweeted your tweet**

  
  


Yangyang smiles and opens the ‘Messages’ app, pulling up his most recent conversation with Kunhang. He’s already planning to take Kunhang out after practice on Friday night, but had immediately texted Kunhang as soon as he had put the elder’s number in his phone. They talk every day, usually about basketball or homework. Kunhang has him watching a basketball anime with a blue haired protagonist. Yangyang is more into Naruto and Dragon Ball Z, but he’s learned that he’ll do pretty much anything to make Kunhang happy.

Sometimes they watch together using a third party app, or Kunhang will pull up a video compilation of the best moments in NBA history. Then they FaceTime while watching and Yangyang gets to hear the way Kunhang interacts with his family. It’s cute. Everything about Kunhang is cute. 

He’s been looking for date ideas ever since he asked Kunhang out. He wishes he had thought of something beforehand, but he didn’t want to wait. He spends hours reading articles and scrolling through Pinterest, and he stalks Kunhang’s SNS profiles in order to find out what he likes. He calculates the costs, empties his wallet, and opens up his piggy bank, and is delighted to find that he has enough to pay for himself _and_ Kunhang. 

He really wants to make a good impression.

  
  


**冠亨 ♡**

hendery? lolol 

_11:34 pm_

it’s my nickname

_11:34 pm_

shouldn’t you be sleeping?

_11:35 pm_

homework :/

_11:37 pm_

and i could say the same for u

_11:37 pm_

stoichiometry waits for no man

_11:38 pm_

yangyang?

_11:40 pm_

yes?

_11:40 pm_

about our date on friday 

_11:45 pm_

i’m 

really looking forward to it

_11:46 pm_

oh thank god

_11:47 pm_

?

_11:48 pm_

i was worried

that u were like

having second thoughts

_11:49 pm_

i’d never 

_11:50 pm_

goodnight, yangyang

_11:51 pm_

goodnight hendery

_11:51 pm_

**♡**

_11:53 pm_

Yangyang shoves his heated face into his pillow and screams, hyper-aware of his mom sleeping in the room next door but unable to contain himself. He flips over on his back to stare at the ceiling, phone at his side. 

Wong Kunhang is going to be the death of him, he’s sure.

  
  
  





  
  
  
  


Yangyang is ambidextrous.

It’s a trait that comes in handy, especially in basketball. His handles are better than the average player. But it also comes in handy in moments like this one, where Kunhang has linked their pinkies in class, and Yangyang can still take notes with his other hand.

He can’t hide the blush on his cheeks, but it’s okay. Neither can Kunhang.

They’ve been talking for a while, sitting together at lunch, texting each other after school. He adds Kunhang on Instagram and Snapchat, and they send each other goofy photos. Yangyang is falling fast and hard, and they haven’t even gone on their first date yet.

The best thing is that Yangyang doesn’t have to choose between basketball and Kunhang. He can have his cake and eat it too, because Kunhang loves basketball just as much as he does. He learns about Kunhang’s favourite player (Steph Curry), his dream basketball shoes, (Nike Air Maestro II, Yangyang notes) and his favourite flavour of protein shake (vanilla). 

Yangyang learns how to make honey-lemon slices because they always eat it in Kuroko no Basuke (Kunhang’s favourite anime). Yangyang brings it to practice on Wednesday and Kunhang lights up so brightly, Yangyang is left in awe for the next five minutes.

Kunhang, despite his bold moves, tends to be shy. While Yangyang is more direct with his touches, openly slinging an arm around Kunhang’s shoulders or intertwining their fingers, the older boy prefers gentle touches on the shoulder or back, and linking their pinkies in class under the desks like they were doing now.

Yangyang scrawls the last answer to the worksheet as quickly as he can, planning to use the rest of the period to stare at Kunhang’s pretty features. Yangyang wants to run his fingers over Kunhang’s cheekbones, or the curve of his jaw, or the shape of his thick brows, but he manages to restrain himself.

His pinky twitches against Kunhang’s, and the other boy tightens his grip.

Yangyang can’t duck his head fast enough to hide his smile. 

  
  





  
  


Friday practice is brutal.

To be fair, most of their practices are brutal. Kun likes to push them to the extent of their capabilities, and when they think they can’t go further, he pushes them even more. Their team chemistry strengthens within a week, and Yangyang can see the potential of his teammates developing. He works with Kunhang to improve his shots, and Renjun to improve his agility. He absolutely loves having Renjun on the team, even with his no-nonsense, no-bullshit attitude. It’s nice to have someone his age and somehow Renjun knows all of the gossip. 

“Here, Yangyang.” Renjun appears at his side with a cold water bottle in his hand. Yangyang smiles gratefully and accepts it, pressing the chilled surface against his heated skin. 

“God, is it just me or is Kun getting meaner?” Yangyang whines, rubbing at his sore wrists. Kun had made them all shoot threes until they could get ten in a row. “I’m gonna be so sore tonight.” He gasps. “Oh my god, tonight!”

He whips his head around to look at Kunhang, who is chatting away with Ten and Sicheng. He’s got his hair in a little bun again and it makes Yangyang go weak in the knees.

“What’s tonight?” Renjun asks curiously.

“My date with Kunhang!” Yangyang hisses. Panic infiltrates his system before he can do anything about it, waves of anxiety wracking through his body. He brings his hand up to his mouth without thinking, biting down on his nails.

“Ooh, where are you taking him?”

Yangyang squints, suspicious of the curious glint in his teammate’s eyes, but in the end he can’t help himself and starts blabbing away.

“I’m taking him to the aquarium, then dinner at Apex, and then the late night showing at the university’s planetarium.”

“Whoa, expensive date,” Renjun says, but he sounds impressed.

“I broke open my piggy bank for this!” Yangyang informs him excitedly. His face hurts from smiling so much but he can’t seem to stop. Even though his stomach is churning with nerves, he can’t deny how much he anticipates tonight.

Renjun’s face softens, and he takes Yangyang’s hands in his own. “I’m sure he’ll love it.”

Yangyang swallows, searching Renjun’s expression and finding nothing but sincerity. He tightens his fingers around Renjun’s. “I really hope so.”

The sharp blow of a whistle pierces the air, grabbing both Yangyang and Renjun’s attention. Kun stood before them, broad smile glittering under the fluorescent lights. Yangyang groans internally—that smile can only mean one thing.

“Alright guys, gear up for ten laps of suicides, then we’ll finish off with a twenty minute scrimmage. No subs, no breaks.”

“He can’t be human,” Yangyang whispers conspiratorially. Renjun only gives him a mournful look before climbing to his feet, pulling Yangyang with him to line up for suicides. One lap means dashing to the end of the key and back, then half court and back, then all the way to the other side of the gym, and back again. 

By the time they finish all ten, they’re all breathing heavily, except for Kun who doesn’t even seem out of breath, though he’s sweating twice as much as the rest of them. 

They split up into two teams of four, and Yangyang ends up on Kunhang’s, opposing Renjun. Yangyang plays small forward, as always, and Kunhang ends up as shooting guard. They have Dejun running point, and Yukhei as center. The other team has Kun as a power forward, Ten running point, Renjun as shooting guard, and Sicheng as center. Yangyang runs his tongue over his teeth—another nervous habit of his. 

Arguably, his team is better. They have four out of five starters. But Kun is practically unstoppable in the paint, and Sicheng always fares well against opponents taller than him. Ten is the sneakiest point guard Yangyang has ever played, and Renjun’s threes are just as accurate as Kunhang’s.

Yangyang hates losing.

“Hey,” Kunhang says, sidling up to Yangyang as he coolly observed the other team. “Let’s win this.”

Yangyang grins. “Let’s _destroy_ them.”

Dejun calls them the wings of the team, and Yangyang is more than pleased as he bounces on his toes, anticipating the jump ball. Somehow, Sicheng gets the ball, but Dejun snatches it out of his hands and passes it to Yukhei, who runs an easy layup before anyone could stop him.

“Oh, it’s on,” Renjun replies, eyes narrowed. Yangyang sticks his tongue out in a brief moment of immaturity, and from that point on, it’s _war._

There’s nothing but the sound of shoes squeaking on the court, and the heavy breathing of the players. In a twenty minute game, if you let the other team pull ahead, they seize momentum. Once they take control of the game, a comeback is almost impossible, and morale is low for the opposing team. Weishen’s run-and-gun style comes in handy for these situations, but often leads to their downfall during games that are four quarters.

Still, nobody is backing down. They are neck-and-neck up until the last twenty seconds. Kunhang pulls Yangyang and Dejun aside as they’re heading back to defend. 

“Don’t let them score. Seize the ball, and keep it away. At the last second, pass it to me.”

Yangyang and Dejun nod in unison, running back to defend as Ten brings the ball up the court. A buzzer beater is easily the best way to win a game since there’s no way for the other team to retaliate, but it’s harder than it looks. For one, they have to take the ball away, then prevent the opponents from regaining possession. 

It’s difficult, because Ten is an amazing point guard despite the fact that he’s not actually a point guard, but at the last second Yukhei slaps the ball out of Kun’s hands and Dejun grabs it before it can go out of bounds.

“Get back on D!” Kun yells, and his team sprints back to defend. Dejun passes it to Yukhei, who passes it to Yangyang, who passes it back to Dejun. Six seconds on the clock. Dejun passes it back to Yangyang, and Yangyang bounces the ball into Kunhang’s hands. 

Three seconds.

“This one’s for you,” Kunhang tells Yangyang, then brings the ball up, and with the flick of his wrist, sends the ball sailing in a smooth arc straight into the net with a _swish_ just as the buzzer goes off. 36–39.

Yangyang stands there frozen as the rest of the team jogs off the court for water and a much needed break.

“You okay?” Kun asks when Yangyang doesn’t move for a solid minute. He’s still staring at the scoreboard in shock. Distantly, he registers Yukhei praising Kunhang, but his heart is pounding loudly in his ears. “Yangyang?”

Yangyang clutches at his heart. 

“I think that’s the most romantic thing anyone has ever done for me.”

**Author's Note:**

> [twitter](https://twitter.com/jaemarkism)  
>  [curious cat](https://curiouscat.me/jaemarked)


End file.
